Tennessee football: 5 reasons Vols could lose to ETSU Bucs

3. Vols offensive line could struggle against ETSU pass rush.

Against Mars Hill, East Tennessee State University had four sacks and eight more quarterback hurries. Now, to be fair, Mars Hill is a Division II school, but it looks like the Buccaneers know how to get pressure on quarterbacks. That could be a problem against the Vols.

Tennessee football had more issues than you could imagine on the offensive line in their opener against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Jeremy Pruitt did note that they had not played together that much. However, is one week going to change that?

It may be better, but things likely won’t be much better. On top of that, the Vols lost center Brandon Kennedy to a season-ending injury. So they have to change up their rotation again anyway. This could become an issue.

West Virginia does not have a good pass rush. In fact, they have an awful defense altogether. However, they still managed to cause major problems for Jarrett Guarantano. What’s going to happen this week with Guarantano and Keller Chryst both playing?

There will be less of a rhythm for the line. The line itself is still developing and has a major new hole to fill. Add to all that ETSU’s potential to get pressure, and this could become a recipe for disaster that Tyson Helton does not want to deal with. Should all of this happen, the offense may struggle again to move the ball. And if they do move it, there could be a play or two that slows them down.